Business Intelligence

Deep Dive: The Proven Method for Building Strategy, Focusing Your Resources, and Taking Smart Action Important insights into the nature of corporate decision making – Rob Carr – Chicago
In many corporate cultures strategic thinking is perceived as being exclusively the role of upper management, and implemented in a tops – down manner. One of the most important points in this book, is that if all managers – at all levels – are not thinking strategically, then the entire organization is at risk. Although this may sound obvious, as a 15 year veteran of corporate America I can personally attest to the fact that most managers below the C – level are either too overwhelmed or too linear to really think strategically. Pick up this book to get some great ideas on how to channel your inner strategist.
I have a formula for reading business books. I read; I underline; I scribble; I tell a few colleagues or friends about the book; I internalize one or two concepts; then I pass the book along or toss it on a shelf. But an interesting thing happened to my formula when I picked up Rich Horwath’s Deep Dive. I started multi-tasking in a frenetic and unprecedented way, applying the principles of the book right away. My scribbles and underlining quickly jumped off the pages and onto Post-It notes and legal pads. I found myself not only making myself promises of how I’ll “be a better strategic thinker this year” ¯ I actually started generating key insights about my business, and making changes to the way I’m allocating human and financial resources.

In fact, it’s fair to say that I generated some of my best business insights during the weeks I was reading Horwath’s book. Thanks to his prompting, I asked myself different questions and came up with some surprising and powerful answers. Already, I can credit this book for a new web site that improves sales conversion, and a new approach to billboard marketing that I plan to execute in 2010.

So, what might you learn from this book? You’ll learn how to change your entire approach to strategic planning and brainstorming sessions (and you’ll change the frequency with which you do them). You’ll learn to be less risk averse and to believe in the quarterly “strategy tune-up.” You’ll learn to put the right people at the strategy table ¯ particularly middle managers, who are often closest to your customers and your daily business processes. And you’ll learn that you owe it, to your career and to your company, to generate not just experience, but the true expertise that comes from taking insight from your work.

Most professionals who are experts in one functional area ¯ perhaps marketing, IT, engineering, sales, operations, or finance ¯ don’t carve out regular “think time” to focus on overall business strategy, or to ask themselves “What’s the one big insight I took from this day/week, and how can I change what I’m doing to turn that insight into better business results?” If you work in a large corporation, your inability to think strategically can happen as a matter of course ¯ because you’re busy executing the tactics your departments are responsible for, and because senior leaders don’t regularly look to you for strategic insights. And if you’re a business leader or an entrepreneur, it’s still easy to get caught in the trap of developing this year’s strategy based on last year’s assumptions, never asking the difficult questions about how your company’s performance is relative to the rest of the industry and what you can do to be sharper than ever.

One of the things I really enjoyed about Deep Dive was its ability to take a very intangible or even obscure topic ¯ strategic thinking for business ¯ and make it tangible and immediately actionable. Horwath does this in several ways. Most effective are the tools (charts, exercises, etc.) that he offers, making the book more than a theoretical discourse on the subject of business strategy, but a “how to” manual that business professionals, at all levels, can put to use. I’ve already tried out several of the tools, and am pleased to say they have helped me think differently (and generate better results) for my business. The other way that Horwath makes the concepts more accessible is through examples, analogies and metaphors. (But there is such a thing as extending a metaphor too far. My only true criticism of the book is his over-use of the “deep diving” concept, and his dangerous foray into presenting himself as an expert in all things aquatic. But in the big scheme of things, this is a fairly small criticism of a largely impressive book.)

I highly recommend you read Deep Dive if you’re looking to accomplish any of the following: 1) Allocating resources more effectively in your department or company. 2) Being recognized not just for tactical execution of projects, but for deep strategic insights that take your organization to a new level. 3) Getting fresh, and energizing, perspective on dusty business concepts ¯ like learning to develop a mission statement that does more than just look good on a plaque, but that generates actions that create results. 4) Mobilizing your team to participate in strategy sessions that are focused and game-changing for your organization.

In reading Deep Dive, I felt like Horwath was standing at my side, not just asserting an approach to business growth, but coaching me through the ways to apply the book’s principles to my specific business challenges. And while I’ve had the unique pleasure of personally working with and learning from Horwath, and I know that not everyone will have the experience of collaborating with him, I can assure you that this book comes surprisingly close to being a good surrogate for the one-on-one experience of his insightful consulting.

Most business books deliver a few “ah ha’s,” but few of them really change us. After reading Deep Dive, I am a different thinker and therefore a different business professional. Moving forward, I will contribute differently; I will hire for strategic thinking skills; and I will, daily, take time to turn my experiences into insights. One other thing I’ll do? Re-read this book at least once each year. I recommend you do the same. : The inability to set good strategy can sink a company – and a leader’s career. A recent “Wall Street Journal” study revealed that the number one most sought after executive skill by organisations is strategic thinking, but few leaders have that skill set. In this book, Rich Horwath dissects the three most important elements of strategic thinking, breaks them down into simple and attainable skills, and shows readers how to apply them every day. He provides managers with a clear path to mastery of three disciplines: Acumen – generate critical insights through a step-by-step evaluation of the business and its environment; Allocation – focus limited resources of time, talent, and money; and, Action – implement a system to guarantee effective execution and communication of strategy throughout the organisation. This book is based on research with senior executives from more than 150 companies and Horwath’s own experience as a professional strategist. Armed with the knowledge from this book, every reader can become an expert strategist and an invaluable member of his or her organisation.
Deep Dive: The Proven Method for Building Strategy, Focusing Your Resources, and Taking Smart Action

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